Setting up a framework for tracking progress in implementing Cuba’s nationally determined contributions (NDCs) was the focus of the recently completed first phase of the ICAT project in the country.

Implemented by Cubaenergia – the centre under Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment in charge of technical support to Cuba’s climate action  – with support of ICAT partners, UNEP Copenhagen Climate Centre and ISPRA, the project set up a framework to track progress on Cuba’s NDCs in the energy, forestry, and agriculture sectors. It helped to establish a measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) framework for this purpose, which defined the data required, the institutional arrangements, and the methodologies to be applied.

As a result of the project, Cuba is now in a position to monitor implementation of all five of its NDC mitigation targets and report on its NDCs under the Paris Agreement as part of the first biennial transparency reports, due in 2024.

Following the success of the first phase, plans for a second phase are already underway. This second phase will build on the work done in the first. It will use the information on the implementation of the current NDC targets to assess possibilities for strengthening measures going forward, as part of an updated NDC submission. Another, related area identified for further work is emissions projections. This is a basis for effectively planning and managing future emissions and ways to reduce them, and a reporting requirement under the Paris Agreement.

The project will also support strengthening the MRV framework with legal/regulatory provisions and analyzing the needs for a data platform. The work would include a knowledge exchange with experts from the region.

The ICAT project in Cuba is a valuable example of how transparency can be used to support climate action. The project has helped Cuba to develop the tools and capacity it needs to advance implementation of its NDCs, and to report on its progress domestically and to the international community. It establishes a sound basis for further strengthening Cuba’s national contributions to global climate action, as foreseen under the Paris Agreement.